Hawaiian’s Service Reliability Leads Airline Industry in March

HONOLULU – May 12, 2009 - Hawaiian Airlines finished the month of March as the nation’s top-rated carrier for punctuality and fewest flight cancellations, as reported in today’s Air Travel Consumer Report issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Hawaiian has led the airline industry in both categories in every month this year.

Hawaiian ranked #1 nationally with a 91.5 percent on-time performance for March, which was 13.1 percentage points above the industry average of 78.4 percent. (To meet DOT standards, a flight must arrive within 15 minutes of schedule to be considered on time.)

Hawaiian complemented its reliability at keeping customers on schedule by leading the industry in fewest flight cancellations during the month. Only 15 of Hawaiian flights out of 6,137 total, or 0.1 percent, were cancelled in March. By comparison, the industry average was 2.1 percent.

In addition, Hawaiian had the industry’s second-best record for baggage handling in March, with 1.82 mishandled baggage reports for every 1,000 passengers served.

Hawaiian also ranked second nationally in the category of passengers denied boarding, which are reported quarterly. Hawaiian had 0.07 involuntary denied boardings per 10,000 passengers, or only 14 total out of nearly 2 million passengers carried during the first quarter.

The DOT report covers 19 airlines, including nine carriers providing service to Hawaii, and is available online at http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/reports/atcr09.htm .


About Hawaiian Airlines

Hawaiian is the nation’s highest-ranked carrier for service quality and performance in 2008 in the 19th annual Airline Quality Rating study. Hawaiian has also led all U.S. carriers in on-time performance for each of the past five years (2004-2008) and has been an industry leader in fewest misplaced bags during that same period (#1 from 2005-2007, #2 in 2008) as reported by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Consumer surveys by Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure and Zagat have all ranked Hawaiian as the top domestic airline serving Hawaii.

Now in its 80th year of continuous service in Hawaii, Hawaiian is the state’s biggest and longest serving airline, as well as the largest provider of passenger air service to Hawaii from the state’s primary visitor markets on the U.S. mainland. Hawaiian offers nonstop service to Hawaii from more U.S. gateway cities (10) than any other airline, as well as service to the Philippines, Australia, American Samoa, and Tahiti. Hawaiian also provides more than 160 daily jet flights within the Hawaiian Islands.

Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. is a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HA). Additional information is available at HawaiianAirlines.com.